Biodegradable polymer compositions are widely utilized in numerous applications, including automotive, home construction, electronic and consumer good products. The polymers may be composed of either bio-based polymers or petroleum-based polymers. The biodegradation of the polymer is preferred to address environmental concerns associated with disposal of the materials once they are no longer useful for their intended purpose. However, the polymers must meet certain physical and chemical characteristics in order for them to be suitable for the intended application. One frequent requirement of biodegradable polymers in certain applications is that they must be flame retardant. However, certain flame retardants, such as halogen compounds, may generate harmful gases during combustion.
The addition of conventional flame retardant materials to a polymer composition may adversely impact the physical characteristics of the composition, ultimately rendering the composition unsuitable or undesirable for its intended purpose. Highly filled flame retardant polymers are often inferior physical characteristics compared to competitive materials due to their molecular architecture. Such materials are often incapable of achieving the desired strength and impact characteristics. Other flame retardant compositions offer molecular architecture that potentially limits the subsequent processing once the multi-component composition is created.